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In response to strong public outcry, the Biden administration’s Department of Energy (DOE) has decided to withdraw proposed new energy efficiency regulations for stoves that would have taken most gas models off the market.
Although it’s still better than no regulation at all, the proposed amendments are much less strict than the original, and can be applied to gas stoves as well as electric stoves.
Nevertheless, the reason why it targeted gas stoves so aggressively in the first place—the Biden team’s extreme climate change agenda—hasn’t changed one bit, and there are still ways the administration can pursue them.
The reason why gas stoves were targeted so aggressively in the first place hasn’t changed: the Biden team’s extreme climate policies. (Getty Images)
Use other regulatory attacks on gas stoves
President Obama once said that there is “more than one way to skin a cat” when it comes to climate policy, and that remains true. Despite the DOE, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is investigating the safety of gas stoves and, in fact, announced last year that a ban was a “realistic possibility” to address homeowner concerns. It was CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. who raised the bar.
Democrats in another blue city join the movement to ban gas stoves
It’s still too early to know what the outcome of the CPSC’s investigation will be, but there’s a good chance the CPSC will snatch reprieve from the DOE and crack down on gas stoves. What’s more, there are other ways for the DOE to target gas stoves, so the DOE is not out of the question.
This includes stricter government testing procedures that each model must pass before being allowed to be sold. And, of course, the agency could set even stricter standards next time.
Furthermore, in 2022, a coalition of environmental groups petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate household gas appliances such as stoves, furnaces, and water heaters. The agency has not yet responded to the petition.
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Restrict access to household natural gas
It goes without saying that you can’t use a gas stove if you don’t have a gas connection in your home or apartment. New York state and many local governments have introduced bans on natural gas connections in new homes.
The government supports these and other efforts to wean homeowners off natural gas, and supports electrifying all the energy they use in their homes to help “meet climate goals.” ing. This includes federal funding from the Inflation Control Act to incorporate anti-gas provisions into local building codes, as well as funding to create only federally subsidized residential electricity.
A group of restaurant owners has challenged Berkeley, California’s local natural gas ban in federal court. Not surprisingly, the Biden administration took a stand in favor of the city and its gas ban.
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Fortunately, the restaurant owners won out. But proponents of the ban have vowed to explore other legally permissible means to achieve a similar crackdown on gas connections, and they can expect support from the Biden administration.
All in all, the idea that targeting gas stoves will help save the planet, no matter how far-fetched, is still the Biden administration’s policy, and there are many ways the federal government could go about it. It took a strong public backlash against this nonsense to win concessions from the Department of Energy on stove efficiency regulations, but the fight to save the blue flame is far from over.
Click here to read more from Ben Lieberman
